http://arxiv.org/abs/1602.05725
Three conceptually different masses appear in equations of motion for objects under gravity, namely, inertial mass, $m_{\cal I}$, passive gravitational mass, $m_{\cal P}$, and active gravitational mass, $m_{\cal A}$. It is assumed that, for any objects, $m_{\cal I} = m_{\cal P} = m_{\cal A}$ in Newtonian gravity, and $m_{\cal I} = m_{\cal P}$ in Einsteinian gravity, oblivious to objects’ sophisticated internal structure. Empirical examination of the equivalence probes deep into gravity theories. We propose new tests based on pulsar timing of the stellar triple system, PSR J0337+1715. Various machine-precision three-body simulations are performed, from which, equivalence-violating parameters are extracted with Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling that takes full correlations into account. We show that the difference in masses can be probed to $3\times10^{-8}$, improving the post-Newtonian constraints of strong equivalence principle by $10^3$–$10^6$. The test of $m_{\cal P}=m_{\cal A}$ presents the first test of Newton’s third law with compact objects.
L. Shao
Fri, 19 Feb 16
20/50
Comments: 5 pages, 5 figures
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